All Hallows Eve

 I really feel that Halloween has gotten a bad rap in our culture. It is best known for being all about ghosts, goblins and psychotic murderers, but its roots trace it to a "hallowed" eve when we are to honor those ordinary saints who have died (the night before All Saints Day). Since I've always loved Halloween, I've found it a bit sad that many Christians reject it as an occult celebration, when it actually should be a time for giving thanks and accepting blessings. Therefore, I am reposting my thoughts on this evening from one year ago, based on a little bit of research that I found interesting:

This morning, as I'm thinking about getting out the Halloween candy for trick or treaters and carving my pumpkin, it dawned on me that I really don't know much about the history of Halloween.

I've always enjoyed seeing the little children in their costumes as they come to the door for treats and I had plenty of fun when my own kids were small. I know that it falls on the eve of All Saints Day and is supposed to be a time when the ghouls roam or something like that, but I admit, the details are a little fuzzy.

So, I did a little research and found out it really has a fascinating history. Halloween comes from an ancient Celtic festival called "Samhein" meaning summer's end, when they believed the dead could walk among the living. Christianity eventually adopted this tradition, as it did many pagan ideas. In the 8th century, Pope Gregory lll established November 1 as All Saints Day and the night before became "Hallow" or holy, hence Halloween.  Rather than being a time when ghosts and ghouls roamed loose, it was meant to be a time to honor and pay respects to the dead. It is believed that the tradition of trick or treating began in the United Kingdom when people went from house to house asking for small loaves of bread in exchange for prayer as a way to celebrate this holy day.

It seems to have made its way to America in the 1800's, when Scottish and Irish communities brought the tradition of "souling" and "guising" (the practice of dressing in costume and begging for treats) and made it a tradition that has been popular ever since.

I guess I now have a new perspective on Halloween after learning all that history. I like the idea of honoring those who've passed on, spending some time in prayer and then just having some good old-fashioned fun!

 

Grace, Pouring Down, Like Rain

  The other morning, I was walking in the rain, trying to release angry, irritable feelings that I had regarding a certain situation in my life. I felt remorse about bitter words I had spoken the day before. Suddenly, the phrase "grace falls like rain" floated around me like tiny sparks of light and I saw very clearly that I was already covered in undeserved mercy and love. In that moment, every bad thought and feeling washed away like rain. It felt like a baptism..

"There is therefore now no condemnation" Paul tells us in Romans 8:1, yet this seems to be a very difficult concept for many of us to grasp. There is a human tendency towards self-condemnation that leads to damaging negative self-talk and guilt that can plague us for years. 

As soon as we feel that remorse and have a change of heart, however, grace and mercy will pour down on us like rain if we believe in the Spirit who gives us life. It's that simple. There is nothing more we have to do- we only need to accept the free gift. There is no legalistic requirement to be good enough, follow certain rules or do a certain number of good works in order to receive God's grace. We are simply forgiven and loved as we are.  

How liberating this is, if we only trust in this assurance.

 As Philip Yancey explains in his book What's so Amazing About Grace:: “By striving to prove how much they deserve God’s love, legalists miss the whole point of the gospel, that it is a gift from God to people who don’t deserve it. The solution to sin is not to impose an ever-stricter code of behavior. It is to know God.” 

It is the experience of knowing God that changes our hearts, not the striving on our own power to be better and do better, then condemning ourselves when we fail.

So this morning, I am thankful for the gift of grace, that is poured out continually, unmeasured and overflowing, renewing and changing my heart day by day.

Breathe in and out, releasing all and accepting the love that is freely given...  

 

*Art by Grace Dillon

The Power Within

 The qualities we most desire to express in our lives are very often those that we already have within us but have not yet realized. Sometimes it takes a particular life experience to dig deep, pray for help and find our internal storehouse of strength.

One of my all-time favorite movies is "The Wizard Of Oz". In fact, I had the entire collection of Frank L. Baum books about the Land of Oz as a child and have watched the movie countless times throughout my life. Dorothy's journey through Oz, her battles with evil and struggles with her own fears as well as the friends she finds along the way to help her in her quest to return home, all seem to be a metaphor for our own personal journeys here on earth.

At the beginning of the movie, Dorothy, feeling trapped and unhappy with her life, sings the well-loved song, "Somewhere Over the Rainbow", yearning for freedom and adventure:

"Somewhere over the rainbow... way up high
There's a land that i heard of once in a lullaby.
Somewhere over the rainbow... skies are blue
And the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true..."

She gets the adventure she dreamed of as a result of a head injury suffered during a tornado, after which she has an amazing dream, which becomes a personal quest  to find "home".  She meets colorful characters and experiences all kinds of amazing, beautiful and dangerous things on her journey to find the mysterious "Wizard of Oz, who she believes can show her the way home. In the end, Dorothy, the scarecrow, the tin man and the cowardly lion all find, when they pull back the curtain, that the seemingly menacing, intimidating, all powerful "Oz" is really a kindhearted gentleman who helps each one of them to realize that what they most desired to be, they already were. They just had to open their eyes and hearts to find their gifts within.

There is just so much to unpack in this story: Dorothy's adventures in Oz as a metaphor for life; The Wizard as a metaphor for God; the personal quest to find home as a metaphor for our own personal search for life's purpose and "our own heart's desire".

 Everything we need in life is revealed as we trust God and ourselves. The gifts within us are greater than we can possibly imagine, but we have to find them for ourselves as we faithfully journey along life's sometimes perilous path. 

As Glinda the Good Witch assures Dorothy in the end: " You've always had the power, my dear, you just had to learn it for yourself ".